South Berwick LanternFest August 22
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Lanternfest_2012The seniors were a bit wary when they learned a thunderstorm meant the first SoBo Lantern Fest would take place on its rain date, which happened to be the same night as their annual dinner dance.

“We had no idea that we had booked a dinner dance the night of the LanternFest rain date and when we got there and realized what was going on,” said Sally Herlihy, a senior from Belle Marsh Road. “I have to say it was spectacular, really amazing.” (See full story below)



So a year later, the South Berwick Seniors are all over it. They told Spring Hill to schedule the summer dinner Wednesday, Aug. 22, the same night as the LanternFest. They told the DJ to be prepared for a bit of competition. And they are building a lantern of their own that is apt to be the hit of the parade as it floats out into Knights Pond.

“I’ve attended a few dinner dances but everybody I’ve talked to said this was the best one ever,” Herlihy said.

In fact, the first annual LanternFest, organized by SoBo Central, surpassed all expectations, drawing close to 1,000 people and filling Spring Hill’s parking lots.

“We never expected the first year to draw so many people, especially since it was a rain date,” said Nicole St. Pierre, main organizer of the event, “but the word got out and on a beautiful summer evening hundreds of people of all ages came down to Knight’s Pond to share in the magic of a community coming together with music, food and a parade of lights.”.

The event invites community members of all ages to carry lanterns in a quarter-mile loop around the fields and woods of Spring Hill, ending at Knight’s Pond where hundreds of lanterns are launched into the water and dozens of  sky lanterns will be released into the night sky. The parade route this year, has been extended to last a bit longer, but will again be guided by a giant heron, built of recycled materials and created by Anne Milne and Kevin Carlson.

 

Lanternfest_2012_prep in South Berwick,  Maine


The seniors are planning to build a giant floating lotus blossom that will be released by Milne and Carlson into the pond at the end of the parade. Milne helped seniors come up with a plan and now a group of residents from the South Berwick Senior Center is working on this featured attraction.

“We have come up with what I think is some pretty wild-looking stuff,” said Herlihy. “We found a funky shower curtain design and will use that in the making of the giant leaves and have a notice in our newsletter to members that whoever wants to help can come help. It will be a magnificent floating lotus.”


Students and families in South Berwick have been crafting lanterns through the summer, some made simply out of soda bottles and tissue paper, some more complex. The lanterns can then be lit with fire, tea lights or glow sticks.

Gates open at 5:30 and music will be provided by MaineSqueeze, a local band which includes South Berwick musician Sammie Haynes. This will be the final concert in the Hot Summer Nights concert series. Participants are invited to bring a picnic or buy food available on the grounds. Spring Hill, which donated the space for the event, will be selling burgers, hot dogs and other items. Beverages and bake sale items will be sold by community groups.

Nearly 75 volunteers make the event possible, doing everything from launching lanterns and selling t-shirts to guiding the parking and ensuring safety. Dozens of high school students volunteering for the event will staff lantern-making, face-painting, glow stick, lantern, and LanternFest T-shirt booths.


SoBo Central, a two-year old nonprofit group, also runs the Hot Summer Nights concert series.

The 7:30 p.m. parade of handmade lanterns will start just after sunset and end on the shores of Knights Pond, where water lanterns will be launched and dozens of sky lanterns will be set adrift into the night sky.

Assistant Town Manager Roberta Orsini will lead the group on shore and in canoes and kayaks to help launch the boat lanterns and collect them after they burn out. The sky lanterns will be released by Harland Goodwin of Spring Hill restaurant, and Dave Stansfield, a SoBo Board member representing the South Berwick Food Pantry.

The night will end with an Afterglow party, with music provided by Pub Lunch, a local band donating their talents. Adults are invited to have "lantinis" in the adult room while kids get a free movie, mats and baby sitting in a neighboring children's area.

Herlihy said the seniors are planning to decorate the porch and are already working on some solar lights they are going to put up on the banister balcony around the deck.

Generally about 100 people come to the senior dinners, Herlihy said. She wouldn’t be surprised if a lot more come to August’s event.

“The reviews that were given on the last one were really, really great and a lot of people said I wish we had been there. They said next time we don’t want to miss it,” she reported. And why would they? It was, according to Herlihy, “a cool serendipitous situation.”

 

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